Trust the packaged foods and utensils are in place.
We understand it’s not so easy to give up on packaged foods. It’s not your fault, as they are engineered for you to have more and more!
Today we have some more recipes to replace packaged foods.
Nutella
Store-bought Nutella often contains sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, skim milk, soy lecithin as an emulsifier and the flavouring – vanillin.
Nutella has a shelf life of 12 months.
Healthy home-made Nutella
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup dates
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Method:
Roast the hazelnuts in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 8-10 minutes till the hazelnuts glisten with oil. Cool them down till they are warm to touch. Add them to the grinder and blend to make into a smooth butter.
Then add the dates and cocoa powder to it and blend it again into a smooth paste while scraping the sides down. Do not add water.
Store in an airtight jar. This nutella will last for 30 days at room temperature.
Mayonnaise
Store bought mayonnaise may contain soybean oil, water, whole eggs and egg yolks, vinegar, salt, sugar, lemon juice, calcium disodium EDTA (used to protect quality) and natural flavors.
On an average mayonnaise has a shelf life of 6 months.
Healthy home-made Cashew Mayonnaise
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for 4–6 hours
- 2 tbsp onions, chopped
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ¼ tsp mustard or to taste
- 1 small clove garlic
- ¼ tsp powdered rock salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper powder or to taste
- ¼ cup water or as required
Method:
Blend the ingredients except for the water. Add water a little at a time to make a smooth paste like a mayonnaise.
This mayonnaise will last for 15 days in your chiller or 4 to 5 days in the fridge.
Healthy home-made Tofu Mayonnaise
Ingredients:
- 1/2 medium size onion, chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp tahini/ sesame butter (recipe given on Day 4 under the Butter section)
- ¼ tsp black pepper powder or to taste
- 1 tsp powdered rock salt or to taste
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp mustard or ½ tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp date paste (recipe given on the SHARAN website under Desserts)
- 100 gm firm tofu or ½ packet silken tofu
- 1-3 tsp soymilk, as required
Method:
Mix all the ingredients except the tofu in the blender. When blended add the tofu and blend again. Taste. Add a bit more lemon or salt if needed and stir. If it is too thick add 1-3 tsp of soymilk to get the right consistency.
This mayonnaise will last for 15 days in your chiller or 4 to 5 days in the fridge.
Cookies
Most commercially made cookies have unbleached enriched flour, semisweet chocolate chips, sugar, soybean oil and/or hydrogenated cottonseed oil, corn syrup, leavening (baking soda and/or ammonium phosphate), salt and whey (from milk).
Store-bought cookies have a shelf life from anywhere between 3 to 6 months.
Healthy Home-made Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh coconut, grated
- 1 cup peanuts, coarsely ground
- 1 tbsp sesame butter or peanut butter (optional-recipe given on Day 4
under the Butter section) - 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup date paste (recipe given on the SHARAN website under Desserts)
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour or as required to make the dough a rollable
consistency
Method:
Knead all the ingredients into a dough adding whole wheat flour as required to make the dough. Taste for sweetness and add more date paste if required. Roll into half inch balls, flatten and put on a parchment paper lined baking tray. No greasing of the tray is required. Place in an oven at 250 Degrees C. Turn over when lightly brown and bake the other side. Allow them to cool, and enjoy.
Variations:
Because of the natural oils in the coconut, peanuts and the sesame/peanut butter, no refined fats are required and there is no need to grease the tray. All the ingredients are healthy, and the recipe is quite flexible – i.e. you can replace the peanuts with cashews or the raisins with date pieces or cranberries. Sesame seeds (high in calcium) can be added for taste too. Desiccated coconut can be used in place of fresh coconut and wheat flour can be replaced by ragi or other grain flours. Whatever you do it usually comes out well and is very quick to make.
These will last for 10 to 15 days in an air-tight container.
You will find many more recipes on our website https://sharan-india.org/recipes/
Watch the movie of the week – Hungry for Change to understand more. This can be found on Netflix and elsewhere. It’s really worth the effort and you will be glad that you did.
Below is the Trailer for Hungry for Change:
